Ashes: Coach McCullum backs players despite narrow defeat, says Edgbaston loss 'validated' our style of play

England’s Test head coach Brendon McCullum is proud of his players despite a two-wicket narrow defeat in the Edgbaston Test. Following one of the best Ashes Tests in a long time, where Australian captain Pat Cummins stood tall to help his team chase 281on the final day, McCullum feels his team's style of play got the ‘validation’, and that they will bounce back stronger in the next Test at Lord’s starting on June 28.

Bazball was the ‘most-talked-about’ thing before the start of the first Ashes Test, and going by how things panned out in both innings, it lived-up to the hype. Contrary to how the previous Ashes began for England, wherein Mitchell Starc clean bowled opener Rory Burns on the first ball of the 1st Test in Brisbane, Zak Crawley hammered Cummins for a four on the first ball this time.

While Australia, who won the Test, scored at 3.20 runs per over across five days, England scored at an impressive 4.61 runs per over across both innings.

"I think we played our style, which is to try and take the game forward," Brendon McCullum said after the Edgbaston Test loss. "I thought Australia were happy playing their style as well, which ultimately led to success for them, and I'm sure they'll continue with those tactics right throughout the series. I think it's set up to be quite a fascinating contest."

The former Kiwi skipper added though they would have loved to win, one thing that happened with this loss is their style of play - ‘Bazball’ got validated.

"Obviously, you'd rather have won the game - that's just the nature of sport sometimes - but I thought the way that we played, I think it's validated our style of play as well. If we'd have got a little bit of the rub of the green then we might have been on the other side of it,” McCullum added.

While many questioned England’s shocking declaration on day one, McCullum feels that gave his team a chance to pounce onto the opportunity to put Australia under mat, something that didn’t happen for them unfortunately.

"I'm really proud of the boys. A couple of things didn't quite go our way at times, but that's the nature of the game. We firmly believe, the skipper and I, that this gives us our greatest chance. Everyone that has watched this game over the last five days, I would be very surprised if there were too many people who disagree with how we go about playing.

Mark Wood in line for Lord’s Test recall

With the pace attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson failing to deliver against the Aussie batting line-up in the first Test, McCullum sees a change happening in the second Test, with fit-again Mark Wood likely to get roped into the XI.

"Woody's a great bowler. He offers a real point of difference, and he'll always come into consideration for selection - especially on wickets that need a little bit more pace. That's the beauty of having a good squad: we've got guys to pick from,” McCullum added.

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